


Colored pencils

by NYWCgirl



Category: White Collar
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Family, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Young Neal Caffrey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 19:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10394535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: Written to fill a prompt from Vexed-wench in Round48 of Collarcorner  and for Neal´s Birthday, which happens to be today..





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written to fill a prompt from Vexed-wench in Round48 of Collarcorner and for Neal´s Birthday, which happens to be today..

He wakes up and slowly blinks open his eyes. The bed is so soft and warn, he doesn´t want to get up. The rest of the house will be cold. His mum is trying to save money, but keeping the heater on low.  
Wait… It´s his birthday! Would his mum have remembered? If not, Ellen will have thought about it. For sure. He gets up out of bed and dresses in the clothes that are on his bed. They are the same as yesterday, but that is OK, they are not dirty yet, and he knows his mum won´t wash until the weekend.  
He walks to the kitchen, but there is nobody. Disappointment creeps his way in. He walks back to his mum´s bedroom and she is still asleep. No problem, he is a big boy, he can make his own breakfast, who needs decorations and balloons anyway. They are for small kids, he is big.  
He takes the box of cereal but it is almost empty, so he checks and he is relieved to see there is a new one in the cupboard. He opens it and checks for the surprise. On the box it says it has a free paint set, so he digs in the cereals and there it is, wrapped in foil, three little water paints. He smiles. He puts them in his schoolbag for later. We will first need to find some paper to paint on. Maybe he can paint something for his mum, she always seems to enjoy his art.  
He eats and checks the clock, he needs to get going, because he will be late for school. He picks up his bag and runs of.  
At school nobody mentioned his birthday and Neal is wise enough not to do it himself, it will only lead to teasing since he didn´t bring anything for the class. School was good. He got a hot meal and it was warm. He enjoyed the lessons. He stays in school as long as possible, pretending to make his homework. But eventually the stay over mum tells him to go home since his mum will miss him. It is cold and he doesn´t want to go home, his mum will be at work and he will be alone. And he doesn´t want to alone, not today. Ellen is at work.  
He decides to go to the local bakery and see if they have something for him. The baker´s wife who works in the shop sometimes gives him a treat at the end of the day.  
He walks into the bakery and is welcomed with a smile. It is warm and it smells so delicious.  
“Is your mum working?”  
Neal nods.  
“Why are you looking so sad, young man?” She looks at him with her ‘mummy eyes’ and he knows he can´t lie to her, not when she looks at him like this.  
“It´s my birthday.” He mumbles.  
“Oh sweetheart. Come here. Happy Birthday, Neal!. Wait, let me get you something special. Have a seat.”  
Neal sits down on the stool behind the counter and waits. He is distracted when someone enters the bakery. Neal looks up and swallows, the person is wearing a hoodie and a mask.  
“Don´t scream kid.” The man hisses, while he tries to open the till.  
“SOPHIE, ROBBERY!” he shouts while jumping off the stool, trying to get away. But the man is quicker and grabs him. It unbalances Neal and he slams down on the floor. His head bounces of the tile floor and he is dazed. His vision is greying out.  
He can hear the man curse and leaving the bakery.  
“NEAL! The baker and his wife enter the store and find Neal on the floor, bleeding. The baker immediately calls 911, explaining there was an attempted robbery and that a customer was wounded.  
Agents swamp the bakery while the EMT´s take care of Neal. When they find out that his mum is working, the decide to take him with them to hospital. The baker and his wife wave him goodbye and promise he will get a nice treat when he is back.

* * *

Neal is laying in the bed. He isn´t feeling well and he had to throw up earlier. The nurse had smiled and explained that it is normal when you have a concussion. It doesn´t make feel Neal better. He is sore, stiff and nauseous and he wants to go home. He wonders if someone called his mum or Ellen.  
“Hey Neal.”  
A man enters his room. He is young but dressed in a suit. He looks friendly though.  
“Who are you?”  
“My name Peter, I am a special agent.”  
Neal nods.  
“I wanted to meet the hero that prevented the bakery to be robbed.”  
Neal blushes. He is not a hero.  
“I was told you saw the robber. Can you tell me what he looked like?”  
“He was wearing a mask.”  
“OK, but maybe you can tell me what he was wearing?”  
“He was wearing jeans and a black hoodie and a black mask. He was smaller than you.”  
“Could you see the color of his eyes.?”  
“Yes, they were hazel brown;”  
“Hazel, hm?”  
“And he was wearing black sneakers and he had been painting with them.”  
“How do you know?”  
“There was sienna oil paint on his left sneaker.”  
“You sure it was sienna?”  
“Yes, I used the color in art class.”  
“You like to paint?”  
“Yes, I do. I also like to draw.” Neal smiles tiredly.  
“I can see you need your rest. I will talk to you later, if that is OK?”  
Neal nods.  
“Do you think you can draw the robber when you had a nap?”  
“Yes, I can.  
“OK, rest, I will be back. Bye Neal.”

* * *

Peter leaves the room. Such a nice kid. He walks to the nurses desk and shows his badge.  
“Hi, my name is Peter Burke, I am a special agent assigned to the case of Neal Caffrey?”  
“Oh yes. Isn´t he a sweet boy?”  
“Yes, why aren´t his parents here yet?”  
“We tried to call his mum, but she is at work and Neal doesn´t know the number.”  
Peter sighs.  
“Will he be alright?”  
“Yeah, he will heal, it is nothing too serious, but we admitted him because his parents didn´t show up. His luck being caught in a robbery on his birthday.”  
“It’s his birthday today?”  
“Yes, I guess nobody paid any attention to it. But it is in his medical file.”  
Peter nods, “I will be right back.”  
Peter walks down to the cafeteria and buys a can of cola, a hamburger with fries and a large strawberry milkshake. He then makes his way over to the small store, they don´t have that much choice, but he finds what he is looking for. By the time he is back, the food is ready and he quickly makes his way back to Neal´s room.  
Neal is lying in bed with his eyes closed but just as Peter thinks he is sleeping, he opens them and smiles.  
“Hi Peter.”  
“Hey kid, how are you doing?”  
“I´m fine.”  
“Hey, the nurse told me it is your birthday today.”  
Neal nods eagerly.  
“Well, then you deserve something special. It is already late and I think you missed dinner rounds here in the hospital. I got you some fries and a hamburger.”  
“Not so much a fan of hamburger, but I will have the fries.” Neal´s eyes twinkle.  
“OK, we will share, I will eat the burger, you eat the rest.”  
Peter puts the shake in front of Neal and he smiles.  
“Is it strawberry?”  
“Yep, that is the best flavor, isn´t it?” Peter smiles like it is their little secret.  
Neal eats the fries and the milkshake.  
“You can keep the sweets and cola for later, OK?”  
“Thank you.”  
“Oh, and I got you a little something.”  
Peter hands the wrapped package to Neal. He looks at it so eagerly.  
“Well, open it, silly.”  
Neal rips the paper open and stares at the contents.  
“Thank you, I love them.”  
“Are they OK? you said you like to draw.”  
“Yes, I love them, but you shouldn´t have bought me such expensive pencils.”  
Neal looks at the tin with twenty four colored pencils and a sketch book.  
“Yes, I do, what you did was very brave and your birthday should be celebrated. You deserve it, kid.”  
“Thank you Peter.” Neal says with a genuine smile and drooping eyes.  
“Sleep Neal, Good night.”  
Peter leaves the room and dimes the lights.

* * *

“Happy birthday Neal.”  
“Thanks guys.”  
“We got you a little present.” Peter hands over the flat package.  
It is wrapped very nicely. Neal shakes it carefully, but there is no sound. So he continues his unwrapping. When folds the wrapping paper open, he stares at the contents.  
He has a sense of déjà vu. This has happened before. He looks up at Peter and he can see Peter has the same feeling.  
“They´re watercolor pencils from Faber Castell. They are gorgeous. Wow, you shouldn´t have gotten me such expensive pencils.”  
Peter´s face gets a pensive look.  
“You said that before to me.” Peter whispers.  
Neal smiles widely.  
“I did, didn´t I? You gave me that box of pencils for my birthday, in the hospital, that was you, I had forgotten about it, but we met before.”  
Peter swallows and nods.  
“What are you guys talking about?” El asked a bit confused at the reactions of both men.  
“We have met before, but we both forgot, Peter gave me a tin of pencils before, when I was a boy whose birthday was forgotten by everybody. No, that is not true, I was in that bakery that was robbed, to get a treat for my birthday. Mum and Ellen were working and …”  
“the bakery was robbed, but Neal prevented it. I was a probie and sent to question the witness in hospital. He was so small and when I found out it was his birthday, I got him…”  
“a strawberry milkshake and fries.” Neal finishes the sentence.  
“I also bought you a burger, but you didn´t want it.”  
“I was concussed.”  
“What happened after I left the hospital?”  
“Ellen came to pick me up after her shift and she bought me a donut.”  
Peter nods, so that was Neal´s birthday, a donut.  
“Well, I am glad I was assigned your case that day. I used to wonder what happened to you. Now I know.”  
“You made my day, peter, I used those pencils until they were mere stumps.”  
“Well if you are done reminiscing, I have dinner ready.” El says with a fond smile.  
“What are we having?”  
“Cornish game hens with mashed potatoes and peas.”  
Neal´s eyes lit up.  
“And as dessert? Pistachio Gelatto?”  
El smiles, Neal walks to the table and sees that there are two extra plates.  
“Are we expecting more guests?”  
“Yes, you will have to wait a moment. June and Mozzie are joying us for dinner.  
“You shouldn´t have gone through so much trouble.”  
“It´s no trouble, it is your birthday.”

"Happy Birthday, Neal!"


End file.
